A/N: Hey! Guess what's back?! This story! And I have a brand new co-writer. I have been stuck on this chapter forever. Thank you OctaScratchRock for helping me out.

Chapter 11: Crazy Carl's Warning

When Sonic ran out of breath, he found himself surrounded by trees on all sides. His foot was in excruciating pain, filling him with regret for running so much on it. Sonic found a large log to sit on before he began to think to himself. As Sonic wiped the tears from his muzzle, he felt his soft, fuzzy, warm gloves on his face, which felt sweet to him and gave him a small boost of happiness. It was as if something was petting him. However, it was nowhere near enough to seal the metaphorical crack in his heart that his experience had given him.

"Well………….." Sonic muttered to himself, "I guess I don't have any more options…….."

Sonic sat in silence for a few more moments before he could have sworn to himself that he heard something. Certainly, sounds were all around him, mainly bird tweets and other forest noises, but Sonic was absolutely certain that he had just heard a more, shall I say, unnatural sound. Think of a gust of wind whistling through a cracked window. Sonic stood up, carefully hopping on one foot to avoid walking on his injured foot. Sonic was immensely thankful for the incredibly strong muscles and bones that he was born with, enabling him to keep himself stable in bad situations. That's when Sonic heard it again, this time much clearer and more audible. Sonic looked in the direction where the sound had come from and curiously began to carefully hop in that direction.

That's when he saw it.

The presence of a massive hole in the ground surrounded by twisted, thorny old trees which did not match the lively look of the other trees at all caught Sonic off guard.

Sonic's expression turned from curious to terrified in a matter of seconds.

"No………………….NO…!!" Sonic shrieked as he backed away.

It was the very place where he had been killed in his nightmare.

Sonic's brain was rushing with conflicting thoughts. Was something out to kill him? Did something want him?

"Recognize this place?" a voice called out.

Sonic covered his ears in pain. He had seen movies, and wasn't taking chances with hypnotizing messages. Completely ignoring the excruciating pain he was about to experience, he took off running on both feet, trying to locate civilization. The voices only got louder and louder no matter how fast he ran, and no matter how much blood spilled out of his poor foot.

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog ran into something tall and solid. He felt it's arms wrap around him. He didn't know what it was, and in his panic, he started to struggle, his quills rising to defend him.

"No! Let me go! Let me go!"

"Sonic! Calm down, boy. Calm down, yee Blue Devil."

At the nickname given to him, Sonic stopped struggling. There was only one person in Green Hills who called him by that name. He looked up, sighing in relief when he saw the bushy bearded face of a man.

"Carl." He shuddered, leaning against him a bit. Having someone he recognized with him helped him feel safe. Safe from… whatever it was he just saw.

"What happened to ya, son?" Carl asked him. He frowned at the sight of Sonic's bleeding foot. "Yer foot is hurt."

"I… I don't wanna talk about it." Sonic sighed.

Carl didn't push it, and instead picked the hedgehog up, holding him in his arms. "Come on. I'll take ya to my home and get you fixed up."

"... Ok."

Sonic cried out in pain as bactine was poured onto his poor foot. He gripped the couch's cushion, his claws piercing through his gloves and embedding into the fabric.

"Sorry there, son." Carl said as he cleaned the blood and dirt off the foot and wrapped it with fresh gauze.

"It's ok. I know you're just trying to help." Sonic blushed a bit as his stomach growled, reminding him he had skipped breakfast in his hurry to get away from Tom. Carl heard the growl and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hungry? I got some cinnamon porridge in the pot."

"No, that's ok, I…" Sonic cringed as his stomach growled louder. Carl nodded and stood up.

"I'll be right back."

Sonic sighed as he watched Crazy Carl go back to his kitchen. As he waited, he looked around the shack he was brought back to.

It wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either, perfect for a family of one, or even two. It was built entirely out of wood, like a cozy little log cabin. Sonic was sat in the living room, sitting on the couch with a coffee table in front of him. On that coffee table was a small 16 inch tv, a remote sitting beside it. If Sonic looked up, he could see straight into the kitchen, where Carl was stirring a boiling pot of porridge, spooning some into a bowl. Beyond the kitchen was a hallway where two doors were, one leading straight forward, and the other on the left side of the hallway. Sonic could only guess that those doors led to the bathroom and Carl's bedroom.

"Ah, here you are, now." Carl said as he came back and gave Sonic the bowl of cinnamon porridge with a spoon.

"Thank you." Sonic said as he took the bowl and started eating, blowing on each spoonful so he wouldn't burn his mouth.

Carl sat beside him and studied the blue hedgehog. He noticed that his eyes were red and baggy, as if he hadn't been getting enough sleep. Tearstains were on his cheeks, and his school clothes had seen better days.

"So… you playing hooky?"

Sonic blushed and tried to brush the dirt off his school uniform. "No I… I just had to get away from Tom."

"You and the sheriff had a fight?"

"Sort of… he accused me of something I didn't do… and then he grounded me for the rest of the week."

"Oh, I'm sorry Sonic. What's that mean about yer birthday party?"

"Not happening anymore, apparently. He took that away, along with having my friends over, the jerk." Sonic sniffed, feeling hot anger and hurt boiling inside of him. "What right does he have to get me excited about something I've never had before in my life, and then snatch it away?"

"You know yer father just wants what's best for yee."

"Don't call him that." Sonic hissed. "He's not my father… I don't think he's even my friend anymore."

"Now don't say that, Sonic. Tom loves you as if you were his own."

"He doesn't believe the things I tell him... The things I hear at night… And the things he accuses me of… Instead, he punishes me and breaks my heart."

"The things you hear at night?" Carl questioned him.

Sonic realized that he had said too much. He wasn't sure how to explain to an adult about the things that visited him last night. He then thought about what his friends had said. About how Crazy Carl knew about the history of his new home. He figured that maybe he should ask.

"Carl… what can you tell me about my new home? … About Blackwood Manor?"

"Well that depends… what do you know already?"

"... Blackwood Manor belonged to this old painter from Rhode Island named Lord Blackwood. He apparently had a son who he murdered and stuffed into the ash pit in the basement. Then he murdered one of his servants for their teeth, then died in the basement afterwards."

"Well, you're not completely wrong… but you're not completely right either."

"What do you mean?"

"Lord Blackwood had a son, but he didn't murder him. He was taken."

Sonic blinked, staring at him in bewilderment. "Taken? … Taken by who?"

"The Fairy Folk. The things that are said to be living in the basement, more specifically, the ash pit."

"... I kept hearing voices… coming from the ash pit." Sonic admitted.

"Sonic, listen to me carefully." Carl frowned as he knelt down to the hedgehog's level. "You must not go anywhere near that ash pit. It's dangerous for you to be in that house to begin with, but as long as that ash pit stays bolted shut, you should be safe."

Sonic gulped, staring at the bearded man before him. "W-What do you mean? W-What happens if the ash pit gets opened?"

"If the ash pit is ever opened… evil is then welcomed into your home."

A cold chill went through Sonic's body. He had already opened the ash pit. He had already welcomed whatever creatures were trapped there into his home…

What had he just released?